In Rhythm Spirit you play as a swordsman going by the name Toshi. One day Toshi receives a mysterious power from a fox spirit starting his bizarre adventure filled with demons, tengus, and evil women who wish to feed on his corpse. Rhythm Spirit is a unique rhythm fighting game that incorporates real time fighting action with rhythm (think Tap Tap Revolution with sword fighting), and showcases some outrageous Japanese style carton graphics and heavily Asian flavored "zen remix" sound track.

Gameplay

Rhythm Spirit tells an intriguing story that?s rooted deeply in Asia folklore, and in this story telling mode you journey through 10 levels of demon fighting chopping and thrashing your sword to the beat of music. Those who have played Tap Tap Resolution will understand the gameplay quickly, only difference here is your timing will affect swordplay. As a Series of notes come at you, you must hit the right button at the right time. And when you are successful, your swordsman will dodge enemy attack and perform attack moves like running, jumping, ducking, blocks, slashing and more. Not everything is swordplay, there are some very interesting things you will also need to do based on the rhythm, like playing a flute to put an enemy to sleep. Very cool!

There are plenty of bad guys to fight in Rhythm Spirit and you will never get bored with the enemies in this game. In fact you will look forward to seeing who comes in the next level and what they will look like. You?ve got the garden variety of ninjas, Tengus of course (if you aren?t familiar with Japanese anime, Tengus is a Elf like creature with eagle wings and a very long nose), and surprisingly serpent like women. There are running fights, stand up fights and boss fights, each is different from the last, and more interesting. Like in a fighting game, you and your enemy each has a life bar, when the bar goes empty that character dies. And like in a rhythm game, the accuracy and timing in which you hit the notes determine the outcome of the score. There is ton of unlockable trophies, which adds to the replay value of the game. Oh, and watch out for a gigantic surprise near the end of the game!

Graphics

The graphics in Rhythm Spirit reminds of the graphics in OMG Pirates! which also features ninjas. The graphics in Rhythm Spirit is superb: all the characters are designed to perfection, the level design couldn't get better, and your enemies look evil! The enemy design takes the cake: as you watch lady Rokurokubi transforming from a beautiful traditional Japanese woman to a snake like monster with her eye popping, teeth stretching and neck comes off her body and moves like a snake. The imagination in character design is absolutely top-notch.

The controls are simple and responsive to the rhythm taps. There are two directional buttons (up and down) on the left and two weapon buttons (shuriken and sword) on the right. You don?t have to more in this game, just by tapping on these buttons at the right time you will trigger actions on the screen.

Sound

Rhythm Spirit is essential a rhythm game, and nothing would matter unless the music was good. The music in Rhythm Spirit is indeed good! It mixes traditional Japanese music with modern beat. It features both folk music instruments as well as electronic techno mix, making it action oriented yet with heavy oriental flavor.

Conclusion

Rhythm Spirit is a great pick up n? play game which doesn't require a lot of skills. The game contains a fair amount of levels and music that won't get boring no matter how much you hear it. If you're a Tap Tap Revenge fan that likes demons and swordsman, then this game is perfect for you.